BIMCO Holiday Calendar 2025

This publication is the most trusted and unbiased source of worldwide holidays and working hours in the shipping industry. It is an essential reference when voyage planning and negotiating charter parties and to help avoid disputes with third parties.

The most significant improvements in this edition are:

- Increased focus on local and regional holidays

- exclusion of conditional and labour agreement holidays and greatly improved verification of entries supported by local, legal documentation to ensure reliability

- holiday legislation is reflected at national, regional and municipality level.

One of the cornerstones of BIMCO is to support members' businesses by delivering practical tools, advice and guidance. An example is the indispensable voyage planning tool: the BIMCO Holiday Calendar. Access to the Holiday Calendar data is offered to members on the BIMCO website. The printed version is available for purchase for everyone in the industry and offered with a discount to BIMCO members. Support and advice relating to holiday information - a benefit exclusive to BIMCO members - is not included when purchasing the printed holiday calendar. Should our members prefer a direct connection between their systems and the BIMCO Holiday database, we suggest utilising our public released API. To get access please forward your request to holidays@bimco.org, and we will guide you through the application process.

It is not unusual that charterers and owners agree to be guided by the BIMCO Holiday Calendar in order to avoid any doubt over what is considered a holiday under the charter party. Where differences occur between what is stated in the Holiday Calendar and actual experience, either about holidays or working hours, we recommend members to seek information on the BIMCO website which is continually updated. This may initially explain a discrepancy.

Should there still be disagreements about the actual dates, we recommend that members contact BIMCO for advice using holidays@bimco.org. We will utilise our network and reliable sources and provide assistance and guidance to the extent applicable information is available to us.

The Holiday Calendar provides details on holidays on the following levels:

• National / Federal
• Regional / State / Provincial
• Local

In general, holidays can be categorized as follows:

• Fixed
• Movable
• Relative

Fixed holidays in context of the Holiday Calendar are fixed in accordance with the Gregorian/western calendar. As such, they will fall on the same date each year in the calendar. Movable holidays might as well be fixed, but in accordance with other calendars such as the Islamic lunar calendar which itself is subject to observations - not calculations. Relative holidays are fixed in accordance with other events - e.g. Ascension Day - or calculated - e.g. (western) Easter.

Additional information on the port working hours are provided for various ports. The details for working hours may include:

• Ordinary/overtime hours
• Shift work possibilities
• Restrictions or limitations on certain days.

Introduction

Albania - Republic of Yemen

(General Holidays applying throughout the countries/states, Local Holidays and working hours at the various ports, all listed alphabetically.)

Index

BIMCO is the world's largest direct-membership organisation for shipowners, charterers, shipbrokers and agents. In total, around 60% of the world's merchant fleet is a BIMCO member, measured by tonnage (weight of the unloaded ships).

The organisation has NGO status and is based in Copenhagen, Denmark, with offices in Athens, Singapore and Shanghai.

With around 1900 member companies across 120 countries, from the largest shipowners in the world to small local port agents and law firms, BIMCO represents a wide range of maritime companies and organisations.

BIMCO's goal is to secure a level playing field for the global shipping industry. BIMCO therefore works to promote and secure global standards and regulations for the maritime sector. The organisation's century long effort into creating standard contracts and clauses is an expression of that aim.